


Comfort

by Yourwritersblock



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Getting Together, Happy Ending, I have so many mixed feelings about Mary, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-07 01:53:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16399166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yourwritersblock/pseuds/Yourwritersblock
Summary: Mary wrenched Neil’s arms away from where they had been curled against his chest. Digging her bitten down nails into his skin, she scanned her eyes over the two small knives on the inside of each wrist. The back silhouettes stood out sharply against his pale skin and Neil pulled his lip in between his teeth.“It seems you’re destined for someone just like your father,” Mary spat. Neil flinched at the anger in her voice, and her grip tightened at the movement.--Neil has a mark on each wrist - the only problem is that they're both outlines of knives





	Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> As always, come chat to me at yourwritersblock on Tumblr!

Mary wrenched Neil’s arms away from where they had been curled against his chest. Digging her bitten down nails into his skin, she scanned her eyes over the two small knives on the inside of each wrist. The back silhouettes stood out sharply against his pale skin and Neil pulled his lip in between his teeth.

“It seems you’re destined for someone just like your father,” Mary spat. Neil flinched at the anger in her voice, and her grip tightened at the movement.

He hadn’t told her about the trepid hope he had cradled in his heart leading up to his fifteenth birthday. The idea of his soul mark forming against the skin on his right wrist had caused his pulse to race for months. The frail dream that he would have someone who was destined for him, the frail dream that he would have someone who he could call home - the cold resignation that he would never meet them, the freezing terror that the person who would cause him the most pain would leave their mark on his left wrist. He wasn’t surprised that his left mark was a knife; he had been expecting his father to blemish his skin forever. The disappointment at the mark that had appeared on his right wrist the moment he turned fifteen though, that had been crushing. Of course the person who was tied to him was just a violent as his father. He was unsure if he deserved someone better anyway. 

Mary released his arms in disgust and twisted her body on the cheap motel bed to dig through her bag. Neil dropped his eyes back to his upturned wrists until he head the sharp click of a lighter. He glanced up at Mary and she extended her hand to grab his wrist again. He realised what she was thinking immediately.

“No,” he pleaded, “please.”

“Abram, I will not let you fall into the life I have had,” she said sharply, “give me your wrist.”

“Please.” The sick lurch of his voice had Mary’s face twisting up in cold fury, but she dropped the lighter into her lap.

“Fine, but I cannot protect you if you won’t let me.”

Neil brushed his fingers over the black knife and blinked back hot tears. He suddenly felt a sharp sense of relief that he would never meet them. 

\-----

Andrew pressed his thumb into the mark on Neil’s right wrist as they sat on the roof. Neil’s lips still burned from where they had been pressed against Andrew’s just moments before. Andrew’s eyebrows scrunched minutely as he contemplated the stain and Neil felt the warm flicker of want that flared everytime Andrew touched his wrist. Despite everything, Andrew was too good for the violent image that covered the thin blue veins webbed across Neils wrist, and he smothered the futile hope before leaning back into Andrew’s space. Andrew curled his fingers around Neil’s wrist as he pulled him into another bruising kiss.

\-----

“Soulmates are overrated anyway,” Alison said. Neil pulled his long sleeves into his palms and couldn’t help but feel the silent war that raged in his chest whenever soulmates were mentioned. The upperclassmen were lounging around the girl’s room. Nicky had joined them for once, and predictably, Nicky had steered the conversation to Eric.

Nicky frowned. “How is the person who is going to love you for the rest of your life overrated?”

Allison rolled her eyes but dropped the subject, moving onto the latest fight with her parents.

\-----

Neil rested his chin on his forearms as Andrew spoke about Nicky setting up jobs for him and Aaron at Eden’s. Neil couldn’t help but find Andrew breathtakingly beautiful, and the thought startled him. What he wouldn’t give for Andrew to be his one. The bus hit a pothole and Andrew raised his arm to steady Neil instinctively. Neil’s heart clenched and he felt the corner of his mouth tug up in despair.

\---- 

“You’re at one hundred percent,” Andrew growled. Neil wanted to curl his fingers into Andrew’s light hair. Familiar longing bubbled up in his throat, but he was no longer sure if he even still had a soulmate after Lola had burned through the mark with a glowing red dashboard lighter.

\----

Neil and Andrew were back on the roof, Neil still reeling from their win and Riko’s death. Out of the corner of his eye, Neil saw Andrew wrap his fingers around his right arm band. He turned to face Andrew as Andrew peeled the black fabric from his arm. Andrew held his ruined arm for Neil to see, and Neil’s breath caught at the sight. Nestled between pale scars, but completely undamaged, was an imprint of a black key. 

The implication of Andrew’s vulnerability was clear.

I hope it’s you too.


End file.
